Sub Zero Freezing
by Blackpassion777
Summary: Danny's in college, and his ghost powers are affecting him as a human. He only has one friend he can trust to help him... The League has encountered a new enemy who holds more power than Brainiac... DannyXOC Batman/Justice League crossover PLZ REVIEW.
1. Sharing Secrets

Mornings were hard on Danny. Hell, they would be hard for any self respecting crime fighting student. And no matter how much he wished the work away, magic wasn't going to make it all just disappear. His twentieth birthday had been last week, and he hadn't even gotten to celebrate, and it was times like these that Danny wished he were of legal drinking age (He's a hero, he's supposed to follow the law. Good example and all that).

He had spent all night hunting down three jewel thieves, writing a 6 page essay, and cursing his English teacher for scheduling a test in two days. Danny sighed despite himself and took another swig of his latté. At least caffeine was legal.

Ever since he had left Amityville for college, he hadn't really felt comfortable sharing his secret with anyone. Danny wasn't about to go shouting to someone he didn't trust that he was half-dead. Especially at one of the top research schools in America, Princeton (Yeah, he got in. After a lot of work on his part and some help from his sister.). Honestly, did he really want a bunch of research dorks (no offense) to get the chance to swipe at him? Danny had thought through the consequences when he'd sighed the admission papers. But what could he say: Danny liked a challenge.

He had kept in contact with Sam and Tucker, and they were doing well. In fact, Tucker was doing better than well. He was doing awesome. He'd just recently graduated from Harvard and he had a stable job working for NASA on something Danny could never remember. Apparently, the smarter you were, the harder it was to pronounce your job title. Everyone had known he was a genius, but it was neat to see how far he'd gone.

As for Sam, she had acquired a full ride scholarship to Yale, much to her disdain. She personally would have preferred a college not so prestigious, but then, that was just Sam being Sam. He had kept in contact with his high school friends through texts and emails and such, but he'd kept his brooding thoughts to himself and kept a cheerful exterior. He knew his friends could tell that he was lying through his teeth, but they didn't push it. If Danny wanted to talk, he would let them know.

It was a freezing twenty eight degrees outside, but even without a jacket Danny hardly even noticed. This revelation was both interesting and terrifying to him at the same time; lately his ghost powers had been affecting him as a human more often. But things like this he couldn't just _turn off,_ and it filled him with constant feelings of unease.

Even though he would have been fine without the sweatshirt, he left it on for anyone that might see him walking around outside in just a t-shirt and jeans. The last thing he wanted was for someone to think he was nuts.

Danny finished off his coffee and swung open the Starbucks door, dropping the empty cup in a trash bin outside the door. Even in such cold weather, Danny couldn't see his breath crystallize anymore. He knew he should probably be making sure he was okay, but so far, he felt fine. Plus, Danny wasn't sure he was ready for the answers.

Passing through the campus courtyard, he admired the thousands of glassy icicles that adorned the several large evergreen trees mingled within the campus buildings. Passing through the double doors of the library, a wave of stifling, stagnant, warm air hit him in the face hard. At least they tried to keep things warm.

Danny passed through the bookshelves with purpose, finding what he was looking for at a table near a back window. The younger brunette was leaning forward in an awkward writing stance, her shoulder-length, wavy brown hair thrown casually over her neck so she could see what she was writing.

She looked up from her notes when Danny pulled out a chair and sat down across from her and her dark, brown eyes brightened.

"Hey Danny," she whispered across the table, "I'm almost done, hang on."

Danny nodded with a smile and relaxed back into one of the throne-like wooden chairs, suddenly wondering why it was that all libraries had to make their chairs so big and clunky.

A few minutes and several page turns later, she quickly and haphazardly shoved her notes into her textbook and practically climbed out of the chair, as it had decided that the particular place in the carpet was a good place to trap her. After she had wiggled free she smiled at Danny, "K, lets go."

Before they had reached the door, she had replaced her scarf and hood to their intended positions and zipped up her jacket, jamming her hands into her pockets after she managed to get her books back into her messenger bag.

"Amand-"Danny barely started before the girl whipped to the side to face him, "Danny. I've already told you. Call me Amy." Her face was a mask of false annoyance.

Danny smiled and threw his arms up in mock surrender, "Alright, all right. Amy then."

She eyed his loose attire and asked incredulously. "Aren't you freezing?!"

Danny seemed unprepared for the question and said loudly, "What?! NO. I mean…yes…kinda…uh." He was never a good liar.

Amy made a face and grinned, "Okay then."

Danny smirked sheepishly and said, "Yeah..Well, what I was trying to ask before was, 'Where did you want to go?'"

Amy closed her eyes briefly in thought and said, "I guess we could head over to IHop. They're cheap and I don't have an appetite right now. It's too early. But you just insisted on this time." She smiled at the last comment. Danny had insisted. He had wanted to talk in private, but not anywhere uncomfortable. Plus, if things went well, he didn't want to freak her out in a city at night. There were also plenty of thugs out there he didn't want to deal with with Amy nearby.

Danny replied, "Sure," as he trailed Amy down the block and across a windy intersection. She ran across the street, hands tucked deep into her pockets, arms tight at her sides as the wind gusted around them. Danny followed, unaffected behind her, as she pushed open one of the double doors leading into the Pancake Cathedral. At this time of the morning, the restaurant was as sparsely packed as Danny had hoped.

There was an elderly couple near the kitchen and a couple of college early birds a couple of feet to their left in a booth. So Danny was relieved when the waitress sat them both down by themselves on the other side of the restaurant. The waitress got their orders as they sat down; another coffee for Danny, and a hot chocolate for Amy.

Amy put her hands under her thighs to keep warm and asked curiously, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Danny had to force a grin, and choosing his words carefully, asked, "I don't want to weird you out or anything…but you're really the only person that I can trust."

Amy's expression turned serious and she leaned forward slightly, "Danny, you know you can tell me anything."

Danny snorted a humorless laugh, "No one really thinks that phrase through when they say _anything_. Do they?"

Amy's eyebrows knitted together and she asked slowly, "What do you mean?"

Danny briefly pinched the bridge of his nose and said to the floor, "Look. This is probably going to sound kind of stupid, but what if the person you thought I was," Danny met her eyes, "just didn't exist?"

Amy was so enthralled in what he was saying that even after Danny leaned back in his chair to give the waitress room, she was still startled when the hot chocolate hit the table in front of her. She briefly made eye contact with her and her face twitched into a 'thank you' sort of smile, before Amy ignored her again.

When the waitress was far enough away, Danny turned back to her and asked in a low voice, "Can I trust you?"

Amy tightened her hold on her hot chocolate and opened her mouth to answer, only to close it again and look to the right. Worrying her lower lip she asked, "I'll keep your secret, only if no one gets hurt because of it."

Danny smiled, content with this answer, "Fair enough." He picked up the visibly steaming coffee, and chugged it all at once. Amy's eyes widened in surprise when he set the mug down empty. He exhaled between his teeth, steam dissipating as it passed his lips. Either Danny didn't notice, or didn't care as he folded his arms on the table and waited for Amy.

She could only watch in silence as he paid the check and left. Amy followed him this time, down the block and down a deserted alleyway. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself as the cold blew heavily against her back, once again noticing Danny's indifference to the weather. She knew that she should be feeling uncomfortable down in an alleyway in the city, but she felt safe with Danny.

Amy asked when Danny turned to face her, "Sooo…what are we doing here?"

Danny put a hand up and said, "Hang on. This is your last chance to back out; can I trust you?"

Amy nodded, hands tucked under her armpits to stay warm, her breath coming out in small little clouds.

Danny grinned a little and said, "Watch." Then he started to pull his sweatshirt over his head.

Amy's eyes widened as another gust of wind blew down the alley, but now, even in just a t-shirt and jeans, Danny didn't even shiver. Danny dropped the sweatshirt on the ground and closed his eyes. When he opened them again they were a bright, glowing green. Danny seemed focused on something else entirely as a bright white light swirled around him, his clothes changed to a long sleeved, black and white almost skin tight shirt and loose black pants and white boots. He had white gloves coming up over the sleeves of his shirt and a white D on his chest. The only startling change was that his hair turned snowy white, a stark opposite to his normal black.

Danny made a face that could only be identified as embarrassment and shrugged, "Yeah, the whole suit thing is pretty stupid, but I can figure out how to _not_ change clothes when I go ghost. Every time I change to something else, they turn black and white again, so don't rag on the color scheme."

Amy smiled at his analysis and said, "You said 'go ghost?' Is that what this is?"

Danny smirked back at her, "Yep. I don't just get a nifty costume change. I get all those neat intangibility perks and stuff."

"Uhhh, can I see?"

Danny's head turned slightly to the side, "This doesn't freak you out?"

"Should it?"

"Yeah, kinda," Danny said, a strange expression crossing over his features before it was replaced with a smile and he asked, "You still cold?"

"Of course I am!" Amy half wailed, a shiver running down her arms. Danny grinned and crossed the distance between them, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Amy tensed for the wind she had been expecting, but she never felt it, in fact, she felt…normal. Just, at ease.

"What did you do?" Amy asked, looking into Danny's strangely glowing eyes.

"Well, I made you intangible. One of those neat ghost power perks I mentioned. As long as I'm hanging on to you, you share the same status change I go through. If I'm solid, your solid, if I levitate, you levitate."

Amy looked down and gasped, now being able to see through her own legs and coat. She wasn't invisible, just…translucent. "Can anyone else see us?"

Danny grinned, "No. When I'm intangible no one can see me."

Amy smiled back for the first time, "You said you could levitate…?"

Danny laughed, "Yeah, I can fly. Come on." As Danny finished his sentence, Amy felt her body go weightless as she floated off the ground. She gasped at the feeling of falling while she wasn't even moving. Danny spun her around until he was holding her bridal style and he floated just above the rooftops.

"We should talk at your place. It's cold out here, and I don't think dorm rooms are private enough," Danny said to the brunette.

Amy dug her fingers into Danny's shirt for that small feeling of security that stems from a child holding on to someone's hand when they're scared and said, "I live down that way," pointing away from the campus to some apartments down the street.

After some issues finding her apartment, Danny fazed them both through the wall and set her down on her feet. Amy gasped when he let go of her and she became tangible. She wobbled a bit but Danny had a firm hold on her elbow so she wouldn't fall.

When she steadied Danny said, "Sorry. Forgot that that first time leaves you a little bit dizzy. It's been a while."

Amy said slightly dazed, "That's okay. It was still fun," and plopped down heavily on the couch. Danny sat down at the edge of the coffee table and said, fingertips lightly pressing together, "I really wish I could ask this any other way, but I don't think I can. I didn't show you this only because you're my friend, I also kind of need your help."

A look of worry settled over her features, "With what?"

Danny phased back in the same glow of bright light and asked, "Do you have a thermometer?"

"Why?"

Danny looked sad, "Just get it."

Amy frowned and went to the kitchen, rummaging around for a minute or two before returning and sitting on the couch. She brought back with her one of those ear thermometers.

Danny sighed and held his hand out. Amy dropped the thermometer in his hand and watched confused, as he stuck the thermometer in his ear. It beeped and Danny pulled it out, his mouth turning into a slight frown as he read the numbers.

"I was afraid of that," he mumbled.

"Afraid of what?" Amy asked, still confused.

Danny passed the thermometer back to her and she frowned, "It has to be broken, that's not right."

Danny sighed again and said, "Yes it is."

Amy snorted, "Danny, if your temperature was 58.4 you would be dead…oh."

Danny met her eyes sadly and said, "This wasn't always the case. I've been worrying that something like this was going to happen sooner or later."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked setting the thermometer down beside her.

"As dumb as this sounds my parents are ghost hunters. They built a portal to the ghost realm and before I knew that they had actually built something that worked, I got involved in a little accident. They didn't know though, I never told them. But how could I not worry? My DNA was tampered with by ectoplasm, seriously."

"So what do you need my help with?"

"I want to test my DNA."


	2. Powerz

"_I want to test my DNA."_

"What for?"Amy asked, surprised.

"If something's changing between my ghost self and my human self, then the answers for _why_ that's all happening have to be there _somewhere_." Danny wrung his hands in anxious worry and had to hold his breath so he wouldn't gasp when Amy put her hand over his.

"It's okay Danny. I'll try my best." Amy gave him a reassuring smile and Danny visibly relaxed, much to Amy's pleasure.

To break the uneasy tension in the air, Amy asked lightly, "So besides going intangible, are there any other powers you have?"

"Are you really that interested?" Danny asked amused.

Amy seemed appalled that he would ask such a thing, "Of course I'm interested! You have cool ghost powers!"

Danny chuckled in spite of himself and said, "Yeah, well, besides being able to freely move through the ghost zone, I can do this," Danny pointed at the ceiling and his finger glowed an ominous green.

"What's that for?"

Danny smiled more maliciously than before and the green glow spread across his fingers like water, "I figured out the hard way that _this_," he waved his hand around, "makes a good weapon. I'm serious when I say I hope you don't get to see me use it."

Then he paused for a brief moment of internal debate and added, "I can also possess people, but I try not to use that unless I have no choice…you know…moral reasons and whatnot," Danny made a dismissive motion and carried on.

"I can also briefly make stuff move around. That's pretty neat. I can distort my center of gravity, use ice powers, create a shield, sometimes I can absorb other ghosts' powers, if I concentrate I can create a doppelganger (though I'm not very good at it), and achieve slight teleportation…among other things"

"Woah………..That's a lot of stuff."

Danny leaned on his knees, "Maybe, but it sure helps in a fight."

"Fights with whom?"

Danny blew air into his cheeks, "Well, let's just say that the majority of the ghostly community hates hybrids."

"Oh," Amy answered shortly.

"It also helps with all those irritating criminals."

"So it isn't just ghosts you fight?"

"Nah, I've got the resources, what's to stop me from helping," Danny beamed at her though his blue eyes and stood up.

"I gotta jet. But…as for that test…"

Amy half-shouted, "Tonight! Er, tonight is fine, if you can get me into the labs that late."

Danny grinned widely, going ghost, "Amy, come on, college security is a joke."

"Where and when?"

"Outside your complex around nightfall. That okay?"

Amy smiled to the wall as Danny went invisible, "Just perfect."

_~ 6:35pm _

Amy leaned against the metal bars surrounding her complex patiently, the sun having officially set a few minutes ago. She had only been outside for a short time, but the cold was already seeping through her coat. The wind had previously died, so the low murmur of traffic from the freeway set a low drone in her ears that she usually didn't notice.

When a hand touched her shoulder she shrieked in surprise, chest heaving as she turned to see a startled Danny.

Amy hissed under her breath, leaning on her knees, "Don't sneak up on me like that! What are you, a ghost?!"

Danny had nothing to say to that last comment, he just raised an eyebrow.

"Oh."

Danny put his hand out palm up, careful this time, "Should we go?"

Amy hastily grabbed on and said, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Let's get outta here."

Danny flew to the college with Amy bridal style in his arms, completely at ease, leading Amy to believe he had done this multiple times before. Hovering in front of the double doors to the bio and chem labs, he looked down at Amy.

"Where to?"

"Oh, uh, down the hall, downstairs and to the right. I'll point it out when we get there," Amy unconsciously motioned with her hands as she spoke, Danny memorizing her directions.

Without a warning, Danny went intangible again and fazed through the doors and through the floor, straight to the room she was thinking about. It was still a shock to feel herself move through walls. It was a dissatisfying tingling feeling, and she couldn't believe Danny had ever gotten used to it.

When Amy pointed out the door, Danny's face drew into a frown and he put her down lightly on the tile.

Amy looked between the door and Danny and asked, "What wrong?"

Danny looked even more serious and said, "They bothered to put up an ecto-shield. Why would someone do that…" and then adding in an almost inaudible mumble, "unless there was something here..." Danny cut off like he was about to say something, but kept it to himself.

Danny phased back to his human self and quickly tapped the door, as if testing a hot pan. When he'd checked it for whatever he was looking for, he tightly gripped the handle and yanked…_hard_.

The door wrenched open and there was a clang as bits of the once intact lock bounced onto the floor. Danny's face creased into a scowl and walked through.

Amy stared in shock at the destroyed door until Danny turned and noticed, "Sorry, I get a bit of a strength boost."

"I thought the point was too not let them know that we were here?"

Danny looked away and muttered grimly, "Doesn't matter anymore, they already knew we were coming. Besides, they had up an ecto-shield, I couldn't phase through even if I wanted to."

Amy walked in after him and asked, "Aren't there like, fancy computer surveillance things in high tech places like this?"

Danny shrugged, "They only had one camera running, and that was on the front door. The rest aren't recording, so unless someone's watching right now, which they aren't, then no one saw us."

"How do you know this?"  
"I checked it out weeks ago. I was planning on trying this by myself…but I didn't have the guts."

Amy was quiet while Danny strayed deep into some memory she didn't know, "How could they know?"

Danny met her eyes sadly and sighed…


	3. D anny's N ever A lone

_Danny met her eyes sadly and sighed…_

"It's Vlad. Apparently he still hasn't given up on me yet."

Amy wasn't sure who Vlad was, but from the look on Danny's face, he wasn't friendly. She lightly cleared her throat and walked past Danny to a large, glassy, black surfaced lab table.

After pulling open several drawers she removed a thin syringe and some gloves. Quickly pulling on the gloves she paced back to Danny and waved with her hand, "Come on, give me your arm."

Danny held his arm out for her, palm up, and she stuck the needle in at the crease of his elbow. Danny watched the syringe fill up with his blood, glancing between the needle and Amy. When she removed the needle she asked, "Do you need something for-"

"I heal pretty quick," Danny interrupted. And sure enough, as Amy looked back to his arm, after Danny ran his thumb across the drop of blood on the surface, there wasn't evidence of the skin ever being broken.

She briskly walked back to the table and did some complicated looking things with some complicated looking equipment, and Danny was surprised, "You really look like you know what you're doing."

Amy mmed and answered distractedly, but not without an even layer of pride, "Thank you."

After several minutes Danny pulled out a stool and sat down, passing the time by making his hand tangible and then intangible again and passing it through various objects on the table behind him. His attention had slipped from Amy, so he was startled when he heard her call out from the other side of the room, "You'd better not break anything." He stopped playing with all the expensive stuff after that.

Danny hadn't been keeping the time, but a lot of it must have passed before he heard a light gasp from the other side of a room. Amy was leaning in toward a brightly lit computer monitor, finger tracing what looked like a mapping of his DNA.

Danny put a hand on the back of the swivel chair and leaned in to look, but not remembering anything from 10th grade biology, so he asked, "What?"

Amy circled some areas with her finger and said, "This is impossible. Your DNA is laid out almost like junk DNA, but it's coding for something. Either that or it's just very different from human DNA. Everything is out of sequence. And look here, "she pointed to the bottom of the screen, "You have an extra set of chromosomes…"

He stared at the screen blankly, thinking hard. Amy watched him in silence, ready to do whatever it was that he wanted.

An agonizing twenty seconds ticked by before something lit up in his eyes that Amy recognized. He had an idea…even if he wasn't going to share it with her. He took a deep breath, "Can you copy this information to a flash drive?"

"Yeah, wait a second," she answered, and rummaged through the contents of a lower drawer. She grinned and pulled out a small black flash drive and jammed it abusively into the USB port. Danny watched the loading bar pass quickly from 10% to 100% and pulled it out when it was done.

The half ghost smiled gratefully at Amy, "Thanks a lot Amy." Before she could answer with anything beyond a 'sure' or a 'yeah okay' he had her in his arms again, with even less difficultly than before. Danny left the room and kicked the door closed with his foot, going ghost immediately after he passed through the door frame.

Danny dropped her off back at the apartment and grimaced when he saw the microwave reading 3:54 in blocky red numbers.

"Sorry for stealing your sleep."

Amy smiled, "Nah, it wasn't a big deal."

Danny returned her smile and added, "Night Amy." As he turned to go, Amy felt her heartbeat quicken and her chest go numb, like little threads tying themselves around her heart. Without a second thought, she reached after him and embraced him from behind. Danny froze at the contact, and just as quickly as she had thrown her arms around his waist did she let go and stutter awkwardly, "Night."

Danny smiled softly at her and rested a hand on her arm before he disappeared without a trace, leaving Amy alone in her living room with the memory of his bright green eyes staring back at hers.

Amy whispered into the darkness, "Good night Danny."


	4. Possessed

"_Good night Danny…"_

Danny floated lightly, his back to the little lights of the city, his eyes to the stars. He felt dumb stargazing, but at the moment it seemed appropriate. Everything was too overwhelming, and he needed a mental break. He found it in the stars. No matter what happened to him, they didn't care, because his actions would never, in a billion years, affect them. So strangely, he found solace in the one thing in the world he would never have to worry about or care for.

Danny closed his eyes and sighed, he hadn't meant for his relationship with Amy to go anywhere. He'd thought they were only friends. But after her hug, his heart didn't agree with his logic anymore.

He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, emotionally spent. Going invisible and running away felt cowardly and wrong, but Danny was on an emotional high, and his powers had gone crazy with it. Her hug had just sent him over the edge. Instead of recovering from it, he'd just run away to mill things over when he was alone and could sort things out. Not that it was making a difference; he loved her.

Danny groaned and changed direction, flying as fast as he could at the ground. He needed to cheer up, and grinding a few punks into the dirt seemed like a good way to do it.

Even in ghost form, he had never gotten over the exhilaration of flooring it straight to his would-be death. The feeling of the wind screaming past his ears and yanking his hair back was all worth it. Danny laughed and came to a grinding stop just over the roof of a skyscraper.

He giggled a little, just for the hell of it, and flew down the street, invisible, eyes keen for any potential baddie that might cross his path.

He was rewarded when he turned a sharp corner down an alley, directly through someone. Startled, Danny turned to see the guy bent over a large gym bag, stuffed full of what could only be something illegal. The guy looked up and shivered from his previous contact with the ghost boy and then continued rummaging. Surrounding him were three other guys, all very badass looking with tattoos, piercings and wild hair. Out of the four, he could only see one gun, but it was clear that all of them had to be packing.

Danny started to go tangible to hit them with a well placed ghost ray, but then thought of a better idea. Why just beat them up when he could play around with them first?

Danny grinned mischievously and stood right next to the biggest, tallest one. Close enough to send shivers down his spine. The man whipped to his right, his sixth sense warning him of something he couldn't see.

Hawk tattoo man crossed his arms and whined, "Hurry it up Manny. It frickin' cold out here."

The big guy Danny was standing next to coughed, "Man, I got me a bad feelin'…" his eyes looking in vain for the source to his discomfort.

The man sorting through the bags contents said roughly, "I'm hurryin', but do you want me to get it wrong. Da boss specifically mentioned what he wants, an you sawr what happened to the last fella that messed up." His shaking hands betrayed the swagger in his voice.

Danny smiled and took a deep breath, hands nonchalantly loose in his pockets. His eyes shifted to a clear, icy blue and he exhaled slowly, the chill deep inside him spreading down the alley, stilling the air and turning the damp streets into frosty ice. It had been cold before, but nowhere close to the temperature Danny could pull it too. The freezing air cracked across the concrete to the end of the alley, crystallizing the thug's breath as it left their lips, puffing around their nose in small clouds.

All of them instantly stopped what they were doing and looked around nervously, their breaths quickening to fearful pants. Danny smiled and possessed to big thug next to him.

Danny had to fight for control for a moment, his host's physical strength helping him fight the possession rather than his smarts. The thug visibly twitched before Danny had control, opening his hosts eyes to a deep glowing red. His partners looked up at the thug, shaken, "Steve, man, you okay? …Steve?"

Even as they asked this 'Steve' if he was okay, they were backing up; their instincts already clearly aware of the danger they were in.

Danny laughed through his hosts' mouth, having figured out how to keep his own voice from leaking through ages ago, and cracked his/Steve's neck, "It's been a while since I've possessed anyone this big. It's a little hard to get used too, so I hope you don't mind if I hit too hard."

Danny let the threat hang for a moment before roughly teleporting behind the escaping rogues, effectively scaring the shit out of them. One of them screamed, setting the other two out of their frozen fear, and it sent them running the opposite way. Danny just smiled. The alley ended in a chain link fence, they weren't going anywhere.

He turned himself/Steve intangible and came up behind them just as the fastest slammed into the fence. Danny grabbed the one closest to him by the back of the vest and yanked back, throwing him forcefully into a dumpster. After a loud metallic thud, he slumped to the ground unconscious. The next he hit with a toned down ghost ray from his palm. The last was trying desperately to climb his way over the fence, crying incoherently as he was pulled back by Danny and slammed with bone breaking force. And from the sound of it, it _was_ bone breaking.

The man was openly sobbing as he stared back into the possessed red eyes "Usted es el diablo. Por Favor! Jesucristo me dejó ir!"


	5. The League

See, Batman :D he exists and I have plot now! If I end up messing up their character or making someone say something un justice leagueish, point it out so I can fix it and not feel stupid. Anyway, now we get to the part where I can tie Danny in with the Justice League.

Hope you're enjoying it, at least somewhat ;)

* * *

Bruce tapped the keys of the keyboard quickly and with purpose. Staring, concentrated up at the huge screen of the super computer, he narrowed his eyes beneath his mask and his frown deepened to a glare. He was losing.

_Downloading… _The words flashed across the screen in frosty blue, bold letters, mocking his attempts to stop it. Batman struck the keys faster, desperate to win an already losing battle. The information kept deep in the mainframe hard drive was too valuable to be lost.

92% 93% 94%, the numbers moved forward with each passing second, ticking towards disaster. Batman began to type even faster, even though he knew there was nothing left that he could do.

99%. Bruce slammed his fists down on the console, earning him a spark in complaint.

100%. "Download Complete," a woman's' voice ricocheted soullessly around the cave. The computer shut down, one system at a time, eventually flooding the cave in darkness, leaving Bruce with the sound of a dying hum as the final testament to his failure.

Spinning around, his cape flowing around his ankles, Bruce walked swiftly across the rocky floor toward the exit into his private study. Light wasn't necessary in a place he knew better than his own home. Batman reached for his belt and removed a device from his waist while he made his way from the secret passage through his home, his face once more set into a stoic mask.

"Watch tower," he rumbled into the communicator.

There was only a second of static before a woman's voice answered, "Bruce? What's wrong?" Working with the bat for so long had left her with the ability to do what many others could not; read his emotions.

"Protect the hard drive. All of the data from the Batcave has been stolen and erased, the only thing I can think of capable of doing that is Brainiac."

"What makes you think that?" Diana answered; praying to the Gods Bruce had been mistaken.

"It was hacked and downloaded in less than five minutes."

"That's impossible," Diana breathed through the communicator.

Bruce's voice was laced with a hint of bitter sarcasm, "Apparently not."

There was silence on the other line before Wonder woman said tensely, "I'm shutting down all unnecessary systems now. You should get up here as soon as possible."

"Already on my way," Batman's deep voice traveled through the device toward where Wonder woman stood shutting down all unnecessary programs.

J'onn said from behind Wonder woman, "I will contact the rest of the league. Then he turned a translucent, pale green, and slid through the floor to the level below.

Wonder woman stepped back from the controls and sighed, arms loose at her sides. The last time Brainiac had taken control, he had almost erased Earth…literally. With some help from Static they had been able to escape the mind control chips and destroy him, but it had been a close call. If Brainiac had really come back, would they be enough to stop him?

* * *

In a blur of red and yellow, Flash came to a sliding halt in the meeting room, his normally playful countenance shadowed in concern. The rest of the founding members of the League, Hawkgirl, J'onn, Batman, Superman, Wonder woman, and the Green Lantern, were already there and waiting. Out of either restlessness or anxiety, none had taken a seat at the oval table in the center of the room.

They were all mildly surprised to see Flash arriving so late. Green Lantern raised an eyebrow at his entrance and said, "I've never known you to be late."

Flash faked a scowl, "Yeah, well don't count on it again," he jerked a thumb towards the door, "I got a little tied up in Central."

With the entire League present, Superman turned to batman, hands clenched at his sides, "Start from the beginning. What happened? Diana already filled us in on what you told her."

"I was on my way to the cave when I got the alert, but it was luck that I got there in time to witness it. The download happened so quickly, before I could identify the source, I'd been blocked out."

Flash spoke up from the other side of the room, "You said the information was downloaded? I thought Brainiac was all about destruction."

There was stunned silence at his revelation before Batman answered, "You have a point."

Superman addressed the rest of the league, "Unless Brainiac has changed his ways, this could be something else entirely and we could be dealing with an even more powerful enemy."

Wonder woman added, "Until we have more evidence, keep an eye out for anything unusual. We'll be keeping all the systems here down to basic maintenance until then, just to be cautious."

* * *

Two weeks later…

Sam laughed heartily and cheerfully waved goodbye to her friends while she turned the key in the door handle. Her hair had grown slightly past her shoulders, but she had kept up her Goth exterior and had continued to dye it purple. Pushing the door open with her shoulder, she replaced the keys in her purse and stepped over the threshold into the apartment. She was met with a wall of cold air rushing past her bare arms. She shivered and set her purse down on a side table. The door clicked close behind her and she was filled with the sinking sensation that she wasn't alone.

She took an unsteady breath and it fogged in front of her nose in a small cloud. Her eyebrows bunched in recognition. She had fought enough ghosts in her lifetime to know the signs of one. Sam stared down the narrow hallway to the living room in front of her. She took a steadying breath and walked down the hallway, snaking her arm around the corner to flip the switch.

It flipped up with a dull thud, but nothing happened. Sam bit her lower lip and scanned the dark room in front of her, willing her eyes to adjust.

Danny felt a sharp sting in his heart, seeing his friend so afraid of him was unsettling. He swallowed the feeling and started a small glow in his palm at waist level, trying his best not to startle her. He half-way succeeded.

The room filled with a low bright green glow and Danny gave her a pained grin, "Hey Sam."

"Danny?" Sam gasped.

* * *

Sorry for everything being really short. I would rather upload more at once, but it takes a while to transfer what I have written to the computer 3 Hopefully I've upload quicker, but review guys! I need to know how bad I am D: This is my first real fanfic, so I need some input ;)


	6. Enemies Best Forgotten

**I'm so sorry this story has been on hiatus for so long! I feel so bad D: Anyways, I rewrote this chapter so it didn't sound so stupid and so it made more sense D: GAH three years ago I was stupid D: Anyways, For some reason a chapter between this one and the last one is missing, so I'm just going to rewrite it :( I hate doing that, but I'll try to get it to fit in after this part without seeming to WONKY SO bear with me guys, I'm attempting to resurrect this sucker C:**

Danny sat at the outdoor table and swirled his drink, clinking the ice in the glass. No one else was sitting nearby and he was sure he got a few looks for his lack of winter wear. The street corner the restaurant sat on was part of a busy downtown area in Central. Tourists passed bright store windows across the street in couples and as families.

Danny felt a little disappointed that he was alone, but it felt wrong to get gloomy when everyone else was so cheerful. Danny finished his coke and leaned back to enjoy the ambiance. Danny jumped to his feet when a loud explosion rang out from down the street. Dust and debris flew from the demolished building wall. People screamed and ran from the damage, families shielding children and cars screeching to collision in the street.

Danny was about to go ghost when a blur of red and yellow sped past him, the wind whipping his hair and nearly sending him sprawling. Danny held his ground and decided to watch to see how things would play out. He'd never gotten to see anyone in the big leagues fight before.

The Flash stopped just short of the range of debris and when a woman screamed as a chunk of concrete was about to crush her flatter than a pancake, Flash almost instantaneously had her in his arms out of harm's way.

He set her down out of danger and returned to face the cloud of concrete dust, settling into a comfortable crouch and yelled, "I don't think demolitions are supposed to happen with the people still inside them!" His face was set with a confident smirk as he dodged a small grenade thrown at his face. He sidestepped with ease and when the walking artillery stepped from the smoke, Flash streaked forward to throw a punch directly at his face.

The man held up his arm holding a trigger and yelled, "Not so fast." Flash froze a hairs breath away from his face in surprise. "You touch me and the place goes up in flames!" Flash hesitated and drew back.

"In case you're thinking you can snatch it from me before I can push the trigger, don't bother. If my finger comes off this button, the whole thing goes." Flash narrowed his eyes in frustration and they both stood in a stalemate. Danny looked around and pulled his hood up, deciding maybe now wouldn't be such a bad time to help out.

Danny shifted into intangibility and sunk through the ground, reappearing behind the guy. Staying intangible until the last second, Danny called up his ice powers, reining them in as much as possible to keep from being unnoticed.

The guy was sweating pretty bad from tension, and Danny knew he couldn't risk his finger slipping off the button. He reached up, watching carefully to see if he was noticed as he hovered his hand over the trigger. Danny became tangible just as he yelled, "Now!" freezing the man's hand to the button. Flash reacted so fast Danny almost didn't have time to get out of the way as his punch sent the man flying back into the building. Danny watched him fly into a pillar and collapse to the ground.

Looking back to Flash, Flash walked up to him and asked, "Thanks for the help. I haven't seen you around here before."

Danny looked back from under the hood, "That's cause I'm not from here."

Flash put a hand on his hip, "So what're you doing here then?"

Danny's eyes changed back to their normal blue and he answered, "I was actually looking for you." He shrugged and finished,"Or well, one of you."

Flash arched an eyebrow, "One of who?"

Danny met his eyes in steady determination, "The Justice League."

Flash's tone became a slight more professional and he asked, "What for?"

Danny frowned, "Help. I don't know if anyone else can."

Flash looked surprised and said, "Gee, if it's as bad as you're making it sound I really hope we can actually do anything. What's your problem?"

Danny looked at the arriving cops and said, "I'm having issues with my powers. I figured a group of superheroes would at least know a little about that."

Flash thought something over before he said, "Meet me on the roof of the building on the corner of Stanton and Main in an hour, we can talk there."

Danny visibly relaxed, "Thanks." As he finished the word he went invisible just as an EMT ran past Flash into the wreckage. A look of shock passed over his face as Flash began directing EMT's toward victims and filled the cops in on the situation. Danny left the mess to them and flew to where Flash directed him to meet him and waited.

Danny was only waiting for a few minutes before the red and yellow superhero ran up the side of the building and joined Danny on the roof. Danny whistled, "I didn't know you could do that."

"Do what?"

"Run up buildings."

Flash laughed and put a hand on his hip and jerked a thumb at his chest, "Hey, I'm the Flash, a little building ain't stopping me."

Danny felt his mouth turn up in a grin, "Before, when I said I didn't think anyone else would help me, I'm just afraid to trust anyone else."

"Why? There has to be someone around to help."

Danny's eyes narrowed slightly, "Oh he'll help, but he's the last person on the planet I would run to for help."

Flash didn't push it and he asked, "So what do you think we can help you with?"

Danny turned his arm intangible and held it in front of him, "Five years ago, my parents build a Ghost portal, which does exactly what the name implies: it connects to the ghost zone. But I ended up in the middle of an accident that gave me ghost powers. They weren't really a…problem…until now. They're not just getting stronger, I'm getting…less human." Danny felt the reality behind what he was saying hit him even harder as he explained himself to a complete stranger, "I'm scared."

Flash was in front of Danny in a heartbeat, a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, everything will work out. I have some fears of my own."

Danny's eyes widened in surprise, "You do?"

"Yeah, "Flash pulled his hand back and sat down next to Danny on the air conditioning unit, "I'm always afraid that I'll get stuck moving so fast, that time will stop, and I'll be alone. Everyone gets scared. Heck, I'm sure even Bats has a few fears he doesn't want anyone to know."

Danny fidgeted, "So what do I do?"

"I'm sure Batman can figure something out, but we're in the middle of a problem up top, so I have to ask if I can bring you up."

…and that's how Danny found himself in the Watchtower, with an irritated Batman three inches from his face. Danny gulped and pushed himself even closer to the wall, before a hand on his arm pulled him to the side, away from the glare, "He's just a kid, back off a bit." Hawkgirl released him arm and Danny fell the remaining inches to the floor.

"Bringing a civilian up here only compromises our security," Batman's voice was tinged with a slight edge of worry, though no one but his comrades caught it.

Danny edged away, "Listen, I could-"

"It doesn't matter, "Batman cut him off, looking over his head at Flash, "What's done is done."

Wonder woman put a hand on Danny's shoulder and smiled down at him as Batman stalked away, "It's nothing personal. He's always like that."

Danny didn't relax any as she led him down the hallway Batman had gone down, leaving them several paces behind. Passing a closed door, Danny froze instinctively, planting his feet in front of the door with a shiver. Diana took a few more steps before she noticed he had stopped, "What's wrong?"

Danny didn't notice, but his behavior caught Batman's attention as well. The dark knight stopped and watched Danny. He mouthed softly, "That's not possible…" Putting a hand on the cold metal, Danny asked, "What's behind this door?"

Danny never saw him move so he jumped when Batman answered him from his left, "The main storage computer and generator system, why does it matter?"

Danny was uncomfortable under such close scrutiny and stammered, "Uh, it's just, I'm pretty sure I sense a ghost."

Diana crossed her arms and said steadily, "Ghosts don't exist." Danny's mouth tightened into a firm line in protest, but kept his mouth shut.

Batman just asked, in the same deadly tone he always used, "Why does that matter?"

"Uh, I recognize this ghost, it's Technus…kind of."

Batman narrowed his eyes, "Who's Technus?"

Danny let his hand slip from the door, "He's a powerful ghost that can control and merge with technology, but I haven't seen him in years."

"If you can sense him, is he still here?" Batman seemed all too interested.

"No, it's just ecto-energy he left behind― how long ago was he here?"

Batman shared a look with Diana and ordered, "Come with me."

Danny followed, confused, until they stopped at the bridge, where a green Martian was waiting for them. Danny looked between them with a flare of uncertainty from the tenseness in the air.

"J'onn, when the information was being downloaded, did you sense anything out of the ordinary?"

J'onn met his gaze with calm orange eyes, "Not that I can recall."

Batman turned back to Danny and said, "If someone was in the watchtower that shouldn't have been here, he would have noticed."

Danny looked at the Martian, "Even if they were dead?"

J'onn was silent for several seconds before he answered, "I have not yet encountered a situation that would call for that, so I do not know."

Danny felt a sliver of agitation at their doubt at this point and said certainly, "You had a ghost in your computer. That's a fact, so are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Diana was as skeptical as ever and she asked, "In all my years, I was never taught about ghosts or anything of the like, so why should we believe you? You're just a child, this could be a hoax."

Danny clenched his teeth, reigning in tempered anger, and said frustrated, "Do you really want me to prove it to you?"

She clenched her fists, "Yes."

Danny looked a Jo'nn and asked him, "If you're psychic, you can get inside my head an make sure I'm not lying, right?"

J'onn remained impassive, "Yes, but you are not a threat, and I would only do so with your permission."

Danny held a hand out, still miffed, "Okay, then do it."

Batman shared a look with Jo'nn as he said, "The kid asked for it, go ahead."

Jo'nn stood directly in front of Danny, now completely aware of how much taller and imposing the Martian was, and raising his hands to either side of his head, Jo'nn warned him, "Try to relax, this might hurt a bit."

Eyes glowing orange, Jo'nn began sifting through the halfa's recent memories, it didn't take him long to discover what he needed, Danny felt a throb in the back of his mind, and tried not to sway on his feet as he got over the disorientation of having his mind sweeped.

Jo'nn turned to Diana and clarified, "He does not seem to be lying. I have read accounts of what your planet classifies as a ghost, and that is the closest description to the effect his powers can achieve."

Diana kept her ams crossed, annoyed and Batman deadpanned, "Well that settles that." Turning to Danny, he asked seriously, "Assuming you're on our side and assuming you really can sense this ghost's presence, can you explain why Jo'nn couldn't sense this Technus in our systems?"

Batman was leaning a bit tooc lose for Danny now that he was in interrogation mode and Danny took a careful step back, "Well I could test something."

Batman only narrowed his eyes so Danny took it as a go ahead and looked to the Martain, "See if you can sense me when I go ghost." Changing back to his ghost self Danny watched Jo'nn expectantly, "Can you sense me?"

The Martian closed his eyes and then replied with a hint of confusion, "Yes, but only faintly."

Danny grumbled, "Thought so," as he changed back.

Danny looked back at the Martian, "I'm only about half ghost, so the reason you sensed me might be because I'm not full ghost. If a full ghost was here on the Watchtower, I don't think you would sense it."

Diana seemed to have recovered from the short possession as she asked, "So this Technus, what can you tell us about him?"

Danny shrugged, "Not much more than I already have. He possesses technology. But what did he do exactly?"

Batman answered him, "He downloaded all of the data from the Batcave computers in an amount of time that shouldn't have been possible. We were under the assumption it was Brainiac."

Danny seemed surprised, "he didn't talk to you?"

No one answered his question, either because the proof spoke for itself or because they thought it was rhetorical, "He was always such a blabber mouth. I don't think I ever fought him where he didn't want to show off his, "Danny made quotes in the air, "_infinite knowledge_."

Batman asked, "Can you find him?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, "I could look in the ghost zone, but other than that, I would have to wait for him to find me. I can only sense them if they're in my general vicinity."

"What's the ghost zone?" Diana asked.

Danny shrugged again, "Not sure _what_ it is, but it's where all the ghosts hang out when they're _not_ terrorizing the living world. My parents think it's some kind of alter universe."

"What are the chances Technus went there?" Batman asked coldly.

"Slim. If he doesn't have a reason to go back, he wouldn't." Then Danny muttered to himself, "Unless someone else can tell me…"

"Tell you what?"

"Uhh, I know some guys in the ghost zone that would -cough- be willing to give me information about Technus, but I don't know what good it'll do you."

"What kind of information?"

Danny played with his hands, "His energy felt…different…and a lot stronger."

Diana asked, "Is that bad?"

Sighing, Danny said, "When is it not."

Batman considered that for a moment before he said, "Go see what you can find out. Can normal people travel through the Ghost zone?"

Danny replied, flustered, "Uh, yeah."

Then turning to Diana he said, "Send Green Lanturn with him."

Danny felt a twinge of regret that his reason for being there was being moved to the background but he tried to console himself with the fact that "_hey, it was for the greater good..._"


End file.
